1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a safety device for a construction in which people are able to sit and with which movements can be executed. Such constructions are used as an attraction for a fairground or amusement park. The safety device usually has a restraint that at one end is pivotably connected to the construction and that can be moved between a lifted-up position such that the person is able to sit down in the construction or to leave the latter, and a safety position in which the person is secured in the construction, as well as locking means for locking the restraint in the safety position. The purpose of such a restraint is to secure the people who are in an attraction in such a way that they are held properly in place, even at the high speeds and acceleration to which they are subjected in such an attraction.
2. Description of Related Art
The known safety device has been satisfactory to date, but the further developments in the field of fairground attractions give rise to more detailed consideration of the safety standards adopted. There is therefore a need for a safety device which has even higher reliability and safety, so that safety is guaranteed even in the case of the recently developed attractions, which can generate an irregular movement pattern and support the person on a saddle.
Said aim is achieved in that the locking means are at the free end of the restraint, that is to say the end that faces away from the end where the restraint is pivotably mounted.
Positioning the locking means at the free end of the restraint leads to more favourable loading thereof. The locking means themselves also form a better safety device to prevent the person slipping out from under the restraint.
The locking means can be constructed in many different ways. Preferably, the locking means comprise a projection as well as a lock housing having a recess into which the projection can be inserted, as well as retaining means for retaining the projection in the lock housing, wherein either the projection or the lock housing is fixed to the restraint and whichever of these components is not fixed to the restraint can be fixed to the base.
The retaining means can comprise at least one roller that can be rolled along an upward sloping path in the lock housing, which path together with the inserted projection defines a wedge-shaped space which becomes narrower in the direction in which the projection can be moved out of the lock housing. Preferably, the housing has two upward sloping paths which are located opposite one another and are positioned symmetrically with respect to one another, as well as two rollers, each of which is in contact with one of the paths, between which rollers the projection can be accommodated.
When pressure is exerted on the closed restraint, the rollers pinch the projection so that it is firmly held in the lock housing, which benefits passive safety. For unlocking an actuator is used for moving a slider in the direction of insertion of the projection. The rollers are accommodated in this slider. The slider can be moved approximately parallel to the inserted projection, whilst the rollers have some play in the direction transverse to the direction of movement of the slider. For this purpose the slider has two slots, the longitudinal direction of which is oriented transversely to the direction in which the slider slides, in which slots the rollers are accommodated with play.
In order further to increase safety, a safety harness is provided that at one end is joined to the restraint and at the other end is joined to the base. The safety harness comprises two belts which, when the restraint is lowered, come to bear on the shoulders of the person who has occupied the seat in the construction.
The safety harness can be kept in good contact with the person because each belt can be rolled up on a pretensioned reel. A breast piece is provided on both belts, which breast piece is located close to that end of the belts that is fixed to the restraint. The reels are of the self-locking type as is known for car seat belts. Locking is activated in the event of sudden tensile movements.
According to a practical embodiment, the restraint has two tubes running alongside one another, one end of each tube being pivotably mounted and the other end of each tube having a front support running transversely.